I am officially an expatriate now. I have been living in Freetown for 2 weeks now. I am caring for a sick monkey and a Sierra Leonian puppy. We traveled to Guinea to shop for vehicles and returned with one Toyota Hilux. We only had to stop at 7 border checkpoints to get there 6 to return. I am becoming more proficient driving around Freetown and out to Bauya without getting lost. Krio is the lingua Franca and it is becoming easier to comprehend for me. I still can't "talk Krio" to well but I am learning "small small". African time is difficult to get used to. Today I went across town ( maybe 20 miles ) to register my vehicle and returned 9 hours later without registration in hand. One task took all day and was still not completed in full. This task might have taken 3 hours at home, if the lines where really long.
I have made friends with some neighbor children and they come visit me often. Lucinda and Abdul live up the hill in a corrugated tin house that is about 10'x12'. I treated a face wound on Lucinda and now I am Dr. Michael. The imaginary and real wounds abound but band-aids fix everything
The Bauya Project has begun at least in part. We are meeting with contractors and soliciting bids. Once we have the official land deed signed off on we can really begin. My quarters in Bauya remain inhabitable but that should change soon. In the mean time I am eating wonderfully as Auntie Marie has cooked wonderfully meals every day at the TRS guest house.
We meet Marie a young girl at the Children's Hospital who was slowly and painfully perishing from a facial tumor. We took her to the private hospital where much better medical care is available only to learn that it is too late to operate and radiation therapy does not exist here. Marie will meet Jesus soon and will experience indescribable joy. In the mean time she will anguish without pain medication, or food in her village. Her father decided to take her home to die upcountry. She can not chew food and I am not sure she can swallow as she spit up all liquids she was given. Please pray for this young girl and her family.
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